World News - Bush invokes Iraq as uproar over spying grows President claims success overseas while lawmakers call for investigation

Bush is seizing on Iraq’s elections to claim significant progress as he faces an uproar in Congress over whether he exceeded his powers in conducting the war on terror.Speaking from the Oval Office, Bush was addressing the nation following Dick Cheney’s surprise visit to Baghdad where the vice president asserted that Iraq’s emerging political structure ultimately will take responsibility for its own security.The Pentagon hopes to be able to reduce U.S. troop levels as Iraqi security forces become more capable of defending their own country, but it is unclear when that point will be reached. The usual U.S. troop level this year of about 138,000 was strengthened to about 160,000 this fall out of concern for a potential rise in violence during voting in October and December.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Socialist coca farmer Evo Morales led his conservative rival by more than 10 percentage points in Bolivia's presidential race, a surprisingly strong outcome that made it likely he would be declared the country's first Indian president, according to independent exit polls.Raucous celebrations erupted among Morales' supporters after nationally televised exit polls showed him with a decisive lead over former President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga, who was backed by Bolivia's business elite and Morales himself declared a victory.Quiroga publicly offered his congratulations to Morales on Sunday night."Evo! Evo!" Morales supporters chanted in this coca-growing region of Cochabamba, where Morales built his Movement Toward Socialism, known by its Spanish acronym MAS. ...http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/12/18/bolivia.election.ap.ap/index.html?section=cnn_world

Bush asserted Sun night the US is winning the war in Iraq and issued a plea to Americans divided by doubt: "Do not give in to despair and do not give up on this fight for freedom." Bush acknowledged setbacks and sacrifice and cautioned there would be more violence and death in the months ahead. "Some look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude that the war is lost and not worth another dime or another day," he said. He pleaded with Americans to ignore "defeatists who refuse to see that anything is right." Struggling to build confidence in his policy, the president held out hopes for withdrawing American forces as Iraqi troops gain strength and experience. "As these achievements come, it should require fewer American troops to accomplish our mission." He already declared “Mission Accomplished a couple years ago and this sounds like we will turn it over to the S Vietnamese as we withdraw. He don’t mention our own freedom is vanishing under the new Police State...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/18/politics/main1134819.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=U.S._1134819

In the shadow of a much more recent war, a five-year excavation on the Syrian-Iraqi border has uncovered an ancient settlement of unexpected sophistication that was suddenly wiped out by invaders 5,500 years ago.The discovery sheds light on an early stage of human history in a time and place when cities were first emerging, and it suggests a massive battle waged at its walls.It also poses a mystery: Who destroyed the city, and why?Until the ruined city of Hamoukar was discovered in the riverless plains of northern Syria, urbanized civilization from its time was thought to hug closely to the palm groves, marshes and fisheries of Southern Mesopotamia, hundreds of miles to the south.Current archeological thought has it that settlements as far north as Hamoukar would have been outposts of the southern Uruk society....http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/chi-0512160188dec16%2C0%2C3957360.story?coll=sfla-news-science

U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney visited Iraq on Sunday for the first time since the 2003 invasion, as hardline leaders from both sides of the country's sectarian divide renewed calls for American troops to go home. Cheney, a chief architect of the war to oust Saddam Hussein, met Iraq's prime minister and president during his 8-hour visit, and hailed last Thursday's election as "tremendous." But Saleh al-Mutlak, a Sunni Arab nationalist who stood in the parliamentary election and has spoken up for insurgent views, said Americans were not welcome in Iraq and should leave. His comments echoed those of outspoken Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who accused the Americans on Saturday of peddling their own agenda and disregarding Iraqis. Germany's foreign minister announced that a German woman kidnapped three weeks ago had been freed....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051218/ts_nm/iraq_dc

After an ice storm knocked out power throughout the Carolinas last week, many people are still without heat and are forced to seek refuge in shelters like the high school in East Flat Rock, N.C. More than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Carolinas — most of them in northern South Carolina — continued to cope without electricity on Saturday. Officials say it may be until Tuesday before all power is restored. At the peak of the crisis, 700,000 homes and businesses were without power. Experts say the storm has caused as many power outages as Hurricane Hugo did in 1989.Utility officials have had trouble restoring power because of the extensive damage, and because the outages are scattered. ...http://abcnews.go.com/images/GMA/abc_gma_power_051218_t.jpg